In response to customer demand, Kingspan is launching a new access floor pedestal adhesive that is believed to be the first in the industry to be phthalate free. Developed by Kingspan in partnership with its adhesive supplier, Star Uretech, the new KPA1 Ultra adhesive is available for all Kingspan access flooring systems.
Carl Binney, Kingspan R&D Manager, said: “Phthalates are synthetic plasticisers that act as a softener to enable products to be more malleable and flexible. However they are perceived to have an adverse impact on the environment and some of our major customers asked if we could produce a phthalate-free adhesive. Working with Star Uretech we identified a substitute that is a naturally occuring extract from the pulp of certain fruits. We carried out three months of product development work both in-house and in independent test houses, followed by a further six months of field trials. These have shown that the adhesive is just as good, and indeed slightly stronger than its predecessor.”
The new adhesive fulfils the requirements of BREEAM assessment and LEED certification. It contains no volatile organic compounds, solvents, halogens or phosphates, is non carcinogenic and is packaged and labelled to meet the new Global Harmonised System standards.